Ernest Vandiver

Ernest Vandiver (3 July 1918-21 February 2005) was Lieutenant Governor of Georgia (D) from 11 January 1955 to 13 January 1959, succeeding Marvin Griffin and preceding Garland T. Byrd, and Governor of Georgia from 13 January 1959 to 15 January 1963, succeeding Marvin Griffin and preceding Carl Sanders.

Biography
Ernest Vandiver was born in Canon, Franklin County, Georgia on 3 July 1918, the son of a prominent Franklin County businessman. He graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, and he served as a stateside US Air Force officer during World War II. In 1948, he was appointed Georgia Adjutant General by Governor Herman Talmadge, and he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1954 and Governor in 1959. Vandiver cleaned up the corruption associated with Marvin Griffin's administration and pledged to defend segregation, swearing not to allow a single African-American child into a white school. In 1960, he supported the independent electors movement, weakening the Southern Democrats. However, he later changed his political views, supporting John F. Kennedy and succeeding in securing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s release from prison. He also integrated the University of Georgia at Athens and repealed a law barring federal funding to integrated schools. In 1966, he endorsed Republican Party candidate Bo Callaway for governor rather than support the racist Lester Maddox, and he attempted to run for the US Senate in 1972. He died in 2005 at the age of 86.